Dean Evason has helped change the culture.
The coaching staff has this team mostly dialed in this season. In what has been a very difficult year with a roster loaded with question marks, they are right in the middle of the playoff race in the Eastern Conference. While I don't expect this team to actually get in (surprise me, please!), the coaching staff here deserves a ton of credit.
I'll admit that Dean Evason wasn't my first preference to run this team. Honestly, he might not have even been my second choice. But three months into his first season behind the bench, I'm fully sold. He was the right hire for this team, at this time.
They are putting forth full effort almost every night. That's not something we have been able to say since before the pandemic. And, it's a well directed effort, one that has them scoring at a franchise-best rate. There are two players on pace for 90+ points (Zach Werenski, Kirill Marchenko) - a feat never achieved in the history of this team - and another three (Sean Monahan, Kent Johnson, Dmitri Voronkov) are playing at roughly a point per game.
More important to building a culture, we aren't seeing guys get benched for the odd mistake. That's why the young players on this roster are having such success this season. They're being trusted to do the things that made them all high draft picks in the first place. No longer is there a disconnect between coach and players. Evason backs his guys through mistakes, bad penalties, or occasional off-nights in general. This is all you can ask for out of a head coach.
His assistants are clearly buying into this as well. Whether it's newcomers Scott Ford and Mike Haviland, or returnees like Jared Boll and Steve McCarthy; the entire team seems more organized. The power-play is in the middle of the pack (yay!). The penalty kill has had its struggles over the last couple of months, but at one point was near the top of the league. Missing some key pieces has hurt there, and I'm confident it will come back around.
The only knock I can really give to the coaching staff is that this team is still giving up way too much in the defensive zone. Whether that's part of the scheme or just the names on the roster being wrong, is up for debate. One way or another, they have to give up fewer goals. But, overall, I think the coaching staff is doing a nice job here.
Front office grade: B
Coaching staff grade: B
Overall grade: B
High marks all around. "B" might stand for boring, or not bold in this case; but that's exactly what we need this season. We needed to see a year of improvement, while the new front office gets a chance to evaluate the franchise from top to bottom.
A "B" grade leaves room for improvement, and there is certainly a lot of that to be done. But, this team is on pace for 80 points this season. After back-to-back seasons under 70, that's good enough for me. Bigger changes are on the horizon, I'm certain of that. There will probably be a lot more for us to evaluate in the coming months. Hopefully, the grades will remain high.